For a first-timer, I would not spend any time in Marseille either.

Read the second page of my itinerary (about places closing Sun & Mon) before you firm anything up (Aix). Then read it again the day before you depart from home.

Stu Dudley

Second this. Before driving anywhere, be sure things you want to visit are open.

Stu--I loved our family west coast trip. It was a 2 week trip from San Fran to San Diego. And my favorite part was the PCH and Big Sur. Those views! Whale watching from the beaches, tide pools, otters! I loved the pacific. I was a fish in a former life. I love water, but i've been to several disappointing Caribbean islands. I know some ports are a let down.

Sassafras--I wasn't very clear. I was thinking from Marseilles airport we would be worth going south to water, but not necessarily town of Marseilles.

For the sake of beauty and variety, would a half day trip to Cassis and Route crete and boat ride around the calanques be doable and worth the time? Cassis is supposedly 1 hour from Marsaille airpoirt. Flight lands at 11:30. Hopefully rental car by 1pm. Cassis by 2. Hotel check in. Is this drive and boat trip gorgeous? or not worth it for short trip? If so, I figured stay somewhere around there 1st night, go north the next day.

The boat ride viewing the calanques is nice; they are pretty; not, however, a knock-your-socks-off type of beauty, like the Grand Canyon. But they are nice. 'twould be calming after flight/airport/car-rental/hotel rent. As an alternative to the latter, you could even stay in Aix-en-Provence that night.

You can include the Calanques and Cassis, but you are driving away from the rest of Provence to do so. You’ll arrive there relatively late after landing at Marseille airport, collecting luggage, picking up the rental car, so not exploring the calanques till the next day. Sounds like this is a very high priority for you, but you’ll be shortchanging the next bits.

Would you rather stay in one base such as St Remy for the next three or four nights? Less disruption. But each of these deserves its own full day:
- Arles
- Saint Remy itself and Baux-de-Provence
- a little of the Luberon
- Pont du Gard and Uzès

Nîmes and Avignon are excellent places to visit, but they are time consuming to get in and out of by car.

For estimating driving times, use viamichelin.com rather than Google Maps — or add 30-50% to Google’s times.

https://theblondescout.com/the-compl...ext%20calanque.

Tomboy and FT are both bang-on. For a first-time visit, no way would it be wise to drive away from Aix and other Provencal hilites.
In our estimation (Mrs Z is standing right here now), Cassis is pretty but overpriced--we will not return.
Les Calanques were also OK. Just. Maybe if we were pretty blonde models intent on swimming there off a boat...?

One travele OW!! OK sorry. Two travelers' humble opinions...

I am done. the Foreigner hit song

It feels like the first time...

The boat trip from Marseille to the Calanques is excellent. There are trips where you stay on the boat the whole time and others where swimming is an option.

You can do what you want to do but you have very limited time in Provence and the more you need to move the less time you have to actually visit someplace.

OK. Here's the solution to the Cassis/Calanque quandry:

1. Find a friend with a BIG TV; perhaps even a "smart" TV
2. To it, download one or some of the 296,000 video links you get when you Google "calanques", and then click "videos" to narrow your search
3. Watch a half hour's worth

If you feel like you just "gotta see that in real life", do so. Alert:-there are short (one calanque) and long (all calanques....maybe 6 or 7??) boat rides.

If you feel like, "those vids seem interesting, but the 5th one was pretty much an echo of the 1st one, and I think I've got the idea of what it would be like", your 4 days' Provence time might be better spent elsewhere as suggested above, and you'd probably save $500++ in the process. Four days. I'm sure you've been on a boat before, so that part wouldn't be new

Me? with only 4 days to savor the people, the food, the aura, the atmosphere, of Provence? Having experienced the calanques (4 or 5 on our boat ride) on a 3-week trip in Provence, I'd watch the Google vids, and use the time elsewhere in Provence.

Just remember: like a kid in a candy store with a $10 bill, you have to prioritize. An afternoon in Cassis may mean you have to forego an afternoon in Arles, or Nimes, or Uzes, or Avignon, or Vaison la Romaine, ......and the list goes on and on
We found that, the more we researched for our trips in advance, the more we appreciated the places we went.....knowing the history of each place, the best restaurants and stores, the hidden or little-mentioned treasures of each town.

I hope this is not another case of a first timer who asks for help with an impractical itinerary only to reject the help. One day one of these first timers will post a trip report, but it hasn't happened yet. Oh, well.

flies.....honey.....vinegar.....

Thanks to all again! Yes, you hit the nail on the head. I'm a kid in a candy store. I the more I research, the more I keep trying to fit in.

I guess I need throw out Calanques. Although 3 of us are blond . I was picturing really dramatic coastline that justified the time.

FTOttowa--thanks, I didn't realize google maps was inaccurate or figure why i would need the Michelin maps.

Peabody--even if I don't take your advice, coming on here and getting a variety of feedback has been really helpful to just help me process and make decisions. It's an invaluable service to get your collective opinions. Its gotten me from being "stuck" to getting it decided.

Oh, all right already. I want to thank each and every one of you for the advice way back, and I apologize for not getting back to you. That suggestion to build my own chariot before going to Rome was spot on. The local purveyors were asking an arm and a leg. Quite literally.

And your passionate urgings to adorn my hat with a tricolor ribbon cockade was essential upon entering Paris - - it didn't help with the bedbugs, but at least I avoided the guillotine.

What would my trip have been without that curative and prophylactic toad-shaped incense-burning amulet about my neck on my visit to London - - there were punters left and right of me keeling over with plague, buboes big as a breadbox, streaming headlong into the Thames, while I suffered nary pox nor palsy - - all thanks to you.

And that hovel hidden under an outcropping covered by leaves in the densely overgrown hedges of the Colbitz-Letzinger Heide that a couple of you had the inside scoop on, let me survive the Sack of Magdeburg - - and with the nearby stream and gooseberry bushes, I wound up staying there for the entire remainder of the 30 Years War!

Thanks for all the great tips, folks.

Well, I have been racking my brains trying to think of what would interest a couple of late teen young ladies about driving around small towns in Provence. Why not fly to Nice, which has beach, beautiful setting, easy day trips, and would be much more interesting for young people than dusty old towns? Pardon my perspective; personally I love dusty old towns, but being in the driver's seat/front passenger is a lot more fun than being in the back seat of a car or van.

To get your small town fix you could rent a car one day and drive, or bus to some beautiful hill towns around Nice. Also possible, rent a car to drive leisurely into the countryside back to Avignon, Stay overnight one night, take train back to Paris. At least the driving time would be limited. And it might be an educational travel experience to ride a high speed train in France. I would explore these possibilities with 2 teens. Google maps is your friend when trying to decide on options and how far in time and distance between places but add a couple of hours in for stops and such. Only you can decide whether something is 'worth it'. Whatever you truly want to do, you should do it! Like all things in life, experience is the best teacher.

Rather than follow tomboy's suggestion, you can take a look at my video about the trip to see the calanques (near the end of this report at reply #16 on the thread).

The calanques of Marseille | Any Port in a Storm (proboards.com)

Another vote for Nice. Plenty to do, and rather than renting a car you can take a bus to the nearby villages, or this train - https://www.tourism-alps-provence.com/train-des-pignes/ - as far as Entrevaux. If you want exercise you can hike round Cap Ferrat.

However, I disagree entirely with the people dissing London. There's enough to see and do to keep you occupied for weeks, not just days. There are plenty of parks if you want some nature (check out Richmond if you want a big one). Take a look this site for guided walks: https://www.walks.com/

With teens I'd consider a day trip to Brighton rather than Bath, but I'd also look at combining Cambridge and Ely. Definitely theater. Museums if it rains - I can spend an entire day at the V&A, but you haven't really told us your interests.

I'm with Marylou and thursdaysd regarding Nice, especially for teens.